"whoever had his ear" is the noun clause object of "to" and "whoever" is the
sujbect of "had".  

 

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Martha Galphin
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 7:03 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: subject of a clause vs object of a preposition

 

Help me with this again, please. I've raised this kind of issue before, but
I can't remember your answers. Sorry. I would appreciate your thoughts
again. Thank you. 


From a statement regarding King Henry VIII from the Wikipedia article
"English Reformation":
". . .he allowed himself to be influenced by his advisors from whom he was
never apart, by night or day; he was thus susceptible to whoever had his
ear."

Am I to understand "whoever" is correct because the verb "had" needs a
subject, put better, the clause needs a subject, and that that requirement
is more important than the preposition "to" requiring an object? 

This is the way I guide myself, but I don't think I should explain it this
way to my ESL students. 




Martha G. 

PS  Hope the conference was enjoyable and successful.

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